2.10 Setting Up a Network Installation Source

The YaST install lets you use installation sources files that are hosted on the network to install a new server or upgrade an existing server. The following sections describe how to set up a network installation source server on the following platforms:

NFS Protocol Configuration

An NFS share can be shared easily from almost any location on your file system. Use the following procedure if you choose to use this protocol:

At your network installation server, launch YaST.

Select Network Services, then click NFS Server.

You might be prompted to install the NFS server.

On the NFS Server configuration screen, select Start in the NFS Server section, select Open Port in Firewall in the Firewall section, then click Next.

In the Directories section, click Add Directory and specify or browse to the directory where you have created the install root (source directory), then click OK.

Accept the defaults in the pop-up window for adding a Host.

If you are experienced with NFS configurations, you can customize the configuration.

Click Finish.

FTP Protocol Configuration

These instructions use Pure-FTPd and can be implemented through YaST. Depending on the FTP server you use, the configuration might be different.

If you have created your install root (source directory) within your FTP root, you can forego the following procedure and simply start Pure-FTPd.

The default configuration of Pure-FTPd runs in chroot jail, so symlinks cannot be followed. In order to allow FTP access to the install root created outside of the FTP root, you must mount the install root directory inside of the FTP root.

If you have not created your install root within your FTP root and you choose to use this protocol:

Create a directory inside of your FTP root.

Run the following command:

mount --bind /path_to_install_root /path_to_directory_in_ftp_root

For example,

mount --bind /tmp/OES /srv/ftp/OES

(Optional) If you want to make this install root permanent, add this command to the /etc/fstab file.

Start Pure-FTPd.

HTTP Protocol Configuration

These instructions use Apache2 as provided by SLES 10.

If you choose to use this protocol:

Modify the default-server.conf file of your HTTP server to allow it to follow symlinks and create directory indexes.

The default-server.conf file is located in the /etc/apache2 directory. In the Directory tag of the default-server.conf file, remove None if it is there, add FollowSymLinks and Indexes to the Options directive, then save the changes.

(Conditional) If the install root is outside of the HTTP root, create a symbolic link to the install root with the following command:

ln -s /path_to_install_root /path_to_link

For example,

ln -s /tmp/OES /srv/www/htdocs/OES

Restart Apache.

2.10.2 NetWare as a Network Installation Source Server

Complete the instructions in this section to set up an Novell Open Enterprise Server (OES) 2 installation source on an existing NetWare 6.5 server.

Prerequisites

A NetWare 6.5 server accessible on the network where you plan to install the OES 2 SP3 servers with the following:

6 GB free disk space on the server

The Apache Web Server for NetWare installed and running

The following ISO image files from Novell:

These will set up installation sources for both i386 (32-bit) and x86_64 (64-bit) servers. If you plan to install only one of the platforms, then you need only the images associated with that platform.

Copy the Files and Mount Them as NSS Volumes

The following instructions create unrestricted access to OES 2 SP3 installation files on a NetWare server on your network. Restricting access to the installation files requires additional configuration through Apache Manager or requires manual editing of the Apache configuration files.

For more information on restricting access, see information about the Options, Order, Deny, Allow, and other directives on the Apache.org Web Site.

To provide unrestricted access to the OES 2 SP3 image files:

Create a directory at the root of a server volume with at least 6 GB of free disk space.

For example, you might create a directory named OES2_INSTALL in a volume named TOOLS.

Restrict access to the directory to only those administrators who copy image files to the directory.

This is important because if someone attempts to access these files after they are mounted as NSS volumes, the volumes are immediately dismounted and are no longer available.

Copy the DVD image files listed in Prerequisites to the directory you just created.

At the server console, mount each image file as an NSS volume:

Enter the following command:

nss /MountImageVolume=volume:directory/filename.iso

Replace volume with the NSS volume name, directory with the directory you created in Step 1, and filename with the name of the ISO file.

For example:

nss /MountImageVolume=TOOLS:OES2_INSTALL/SLES-10-SP4-i386-DVD1.iso

Note the assigned volume name.

For the first SLES DVD you mount (either 32-bit or 64-bit), the name is SLES10SP_001, which is the actual volume name in the image file. For the second image you mount, the assigned name is CD_ followed by a four-digit number, starting with 0000.

The same principle applies to the OES 2 SP3 image files. The first file mounted is the actual OES 2 SP3 volume name, but the second image is assigned a CD_xxxx name.

Knowing which volume is for which platform is critical as you create an access URL to the volume in Apache Manager.

In a supported browser, start Apache Manager by entering the following URL:

https://server_ip_address:2200/apacheadmin/login.jsp

Replace server_ip_address with the IP address of the NetWare server.

Log in as the Admin user or a user with administrative rights to the Apache server.

Click the Content Manager icon .

Click Additional Document Directories.

In the URL Prefix field, specify an alias name you want people to use to access one of the mounted volumes.

For example, if you are mounting the volume with the SLES 10 i386 installation files, you might name the alias, sles10sp1-i386.

Click the Search icon next to the File Path field.

Click the volume name that matches the alias name you specified in Step 9, then click Finish.

For example, if CD_0001 is the volume name that NetWare assigned to ISO image of the SLES 10 i386 installation source, you would click CD_0001.